I’m not sure it’s a good thing that I now have a recipe for fudge that is so quick and easy to make.

I was able to show some small amount of restraint when fudge was something that you bought on vacation or at a specialty shop. But now that I the power to make fudge in my own kitchen? Look out!

I’ve often said that one of the best things about starting this website/blog is that so many of my friends are great cooks who generously share their recipes with me. I love it when people send me a recipe, post pictures of fabulous food that they’ve made, generally share the food love. Where it gets REALLY fun is when I have absolutely no idea that someone can cook and they surprise me with a great recipe.

This fudge is a perfect example. The recipe comes from my friend Benjamin in Minnesota. Like me, he’s a musician – fabulous trombone player – but he also builds incredible hand-crafted canoes. He’s the guy you call when you’re driving home from a gig, look up at the sky ahead of you, and wonder what that big bright star planet thing is right by the moon. (The answer is Venus….the planet most often mistaken for a UFO.) So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that he would come up with a killer fudge recipe. The fact that he also packed up a batch and shipped it to me in Florida? Well, that takes friendship to a whole new level.

You will need a big pot or dutch oven to mix all of the ingredients. Choose something even bigger than you think you will need because there is a lot of aggressive stirring involved.

You’ll also need one or two baking dishes or shallow pans. If you want thicker fudge, a 9 x 13 inch baking dish will do the trick. For thinner fudge, use a 9 x 13 inch pan AND a 9 x 9 inch pan. Coat your baking pans with butter or with non-stick cooking spray. Be very thorough if you want your fudge to come out of the pan.

This recipe comes together really quickly so do all of your chopping before you begin cooking.

Chop up 4 squares of unsweetened baker’s chocolate.

If you want nuts in your fudge (and you do), chop up 1 1/2 cups of walnuts or pecans. I’m using a 6 oz bag of walnuts.

Open your can of evaporated milk and measure out 5 cups of sugar. Also measure out 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Melt 2 sticks of butter in a huge pot over medium heat.

Keep an eye on the butter and do not allow it to brown at all. I’m not sure if salted vs. unsalted butter is really an issue. I had one stick of both in the fridge so that’s what I used.

Alternately add sugar and evaporated milk to the melted butter. First a cup or so of sugar…

then a little bit of the can of evaporated milk.

Note: Evaporated milk is NOT the same thing as Sweetened Condensed Milk. Be sure you have the right thing. Evaporated milk is much thinner and unsweetened.

Stir the sugar and milk into the butter just so it starts to dissolve. Then continue to add sugar then evaporated milk, then sugar, then evaporated milk until it is all in the pot.

Bring the pot up to a rolling boil over medium high heat and stir constantly for EXACTLY 6 minutes.

Yes, I set a timer to be exact.

After 6 minutes, take the pot off the heat immediately and add the chopped chocolate squares and the cup of chocolate chips.

To ease getting the fudge (or brownies, caramels etc.) out of the pan, one can make a sling of parchment paper by folding two strips of parchment the width and length of the pan and laying them crosswise in the pan and then buttering or spraying the parchment in the pan.

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